SWORD OF ROME
BEAUTIFUL
RUINS
By DOUGLAS JACKSON
Nero's turbulent reign draws to a close and Gaius Valerius Varens returns in his
fourth brutal and bloody adventure

9780552167918
TRANSWORLD
S$18.00

AD 68. The Emperor Nero's erratic and bloody reign is in its death throes when
Gaius Valerius Verrens is dispatched to Rome on a mission that will bring it to a
close. With Nero dead, the city holds its breath and awaits the arrival his
successor, Servius Sulpicius Galba, governor of Hispania. The Empire prays for
peace, but it prays in vain. Galba promises stability and prosperity, but his rule
begins with a massacre and ends only months later in chaos and carnage. This
will become known as the Year of the Four Emperors, a time of civil war which
will tear Rome apart and test Valerius's skills and loyalties to their very limit.
Fortunate to survive Galba's fall, Valerius is sent on a mission by Rome's new
Emperor, Otho, to his old friend Vitellius, commander of the armies of the north.
Vitellius's legions are on the march, and only Valerius can persuade him to halt
them before the inevitable confrontation. In an epic adventure that will take him
the length and breadth of a divided land, the one-armed Roman fights to stay
alive and stave off a bloodbath as he is stalked by the most implacable enemy
he has ever faced.

PEACH OF
BLOSSOM
PAVILLION
QUEEN
THE TEARLING
By ERIKA JOHANSEN

9780593072707
TRANSWORLD
S$27.00 /

9780062328090
HARPER COLLINS
S$27.00

Kelsea Glynn is the sole heir to the throne of Tearling but has been raised
in secret by foster parents after her mother â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Queen Elyssa, as vain as she
was stupid â&#x20AC;&#x201C; was murdered for ruining her kingdom. For 18 years, the
Tearling has been ruled by Kelsea's uncle in the role of Regent however he
is but the debauched puppet of the Red Queen, the sorceress-tyrant of
neighbouring realm of Mortmesme. On Kelsea's 19th birthday, the tattered
remnants of her mother's guard - each pledged to defend the queen to the
death - arrive to bring this most un-regal young woman out of hiding...
And so begins her journey back to her kingdom's heart, to claim the throne,
earn the loyalty of her people, overturn her mother's legacy and redeem the
Tearling from the forces of corruption and dark magic that are threatening to
destroy it. But Kelsea's story is not just about her learning the true nature of
her inheritance - it's about a heroine who must learn to acknowledge and
live with the realities of coming of age in all its insecurities and attractions,
alongside the ethical dilemmas of ruling justly and fairly while simply trying
to stay alive...